Steve Worster, a two-time All-American at Texas and the bruising fullback who was the inspiration for the creation of the Wishbone offense that came to dominate college football in the 1970s and '80s, died on Saturday at 73.
Worster, who was nicknamed "Big Woo" or "Woo Woo" by Longhorn fans, signed with Texas in 1967 as a 6-0, 210-pound high school star who ran for more than 5,000 career yards at Bridge City High School in Southeast Texas, part of a heralded recruiting class that was known as the "Worster Crowd." The group would lead Texas to 30 consecutive wins and national championships in 1969 and 1970 behind a new offense tailored to take advantage of Worster's strength in front of a fleet-footed backfield tandem of Ted Koy and Chris Gilbert.